Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and Global Citizenship Education (GCE) are simultaneously called for under Target 4.7 of the 2030 Agenda (UN, 2015), while subsequent UNESCO documents (2017, 2019, 2023) confirm their complementarity. In the Guidelines (Annex A of Ministerial Decree No. 35/2020) to Law No. 92 of 20 August 2019, which introduced civic education into Italian schools, the fundamental tenet of sustainable development is defined as extending beyond the preservation of the environment and natural resources; specifically, it entails a concurrent emphasis on equity and social justice and the adoption of inclusive and respectful lifestyles that prioritize key human rights, especially health, mental and physical well-being, food safety, equality among individuals, dignified employment, quality education and the safeguarding of tangible and intangible community heritage (ibid., p. 2).

We find this concept of integration and cross-cutting relationships between areas traditionally viewed as unconnected to be of particular interest. Indeed, to fully grasp the ongoing socio-environmental crisis, we believe that it is crucial to reconsider our educational objectives and, most importantly, to revitalize the school system by bringing to bear an inter- and transdisciplinary perspective.

How have sustainability and global citizenship been integrated into, and fostered within, the Italian school system? What contribution has been made to date by the inclusion of civic education in Italian school curricula?

Research on civic education is currently underway in the Aosta Valley Region. The aim of this project is to examine and compare the 2019/22 and 2022/25 three-year education plans of 18 groups of schools (each encompassing a variable number of infant, primary and lower secondary schools under a single head teacher), focusing on how, at least at the formal level, these schools have been implementing the contents of Law 92/2019, especially in relation to the core tenet of sustainable development.

Recognizing that the foundations for building a sustainable society rest on the competence of educators (UNECE, 2012), we plan to extensively examine all professional development initiatives for teachers organized by the Regional Authority during the 2022/23 and 2023/24 academic years.

Finally, we will also administer questionnaires and interviews to identify – in relation to sustainability and global citizenship – key staff members within the schools, noteworthy projects slated for the 2023/24 academic year, and salient partnerships with local organizations.

In observing how ESD and GCE are perceived within educational institutions, we aim to identify the implications of these concepts for teaching programmes. Our goal is to move beyond mere labels and to foster a transformative approach to building sustainable futures.

At the Faculty of Education of the Free University of Bozen/Bolzano since 2022, an interdisciplinary laboratory called EDEN - Educational Environment With Nature - has been set up with the aim of operating at the intersection of pedagogy, architecture and design with a dual purpose: to create educational spaces capable of generating well-being in pupils and teachers (Hughes et. al. 2019, Weyland Falanga 2022); and to develop an authentic planetary consciousness with educational communities (Clement 2014) through the development of proximity relations with plants.

As such, we document, host and stimulate educational activities, action-research with schools and implementations on the topic of appropriation, transformation and/or creation of educational space with the help of plants. Indeed, we believe that it is possible to generate green educational landscapes through a new and different way of interacting with plants: cooperation, playfulness and sensoriality (Weyland 2022).

One tool we are using to foster active and emotional-affective interaction with plants is the logbook 'Sensing together with plants', created especially for students in which we guide them to choose, observe and listen to an outdoor tree and an indoor plant. The diary is developed with open work tracks in which we urge a change of perspective: from anthropocentrism to planetary consciousness. We start by going in search of a tree and recounting this encounter. We proceed by observing the tree at different times of day and in different weather situations. We then proceed to the process of choosing an indoor plant, a plant to be given a name in addition to the botanical one, a plant to be observed, adjectivized and described. We then proceed to the change of perspective, imagining how plants can observe the writer. Finally, the last prompt concerns the process of identification with plants: how do they feel? What do they feel? What could they tell and tell each other?

The logbook is the result of interdisciplinary work between a pedagogist and an architect and eco-designer and is the subject of a part of a doctoral study that aims to establish active relationships between pre-service teachers and plants by designing a curriculum for initial teacher education (ITE) that fosters their GreenComp (Boaretto, Weyland 2023).

This instrument was compiled by Primary Education students enrolled in the General Didactics course in both the years 2022-2023 and 2023-2024, allowing 130 logbooks to be collected. The presentation focuses on analysing what emerges from the diaries using the grounded theory approach (Tarozzi 2008) to develop interpretive hypotheses, content analysis (Losito 2007) to identify interpretive categories and autobiographical research to understand meanings in greater depth (Demetrio 2018).

Interesting reflections emerge from the stimulation of green memories that proceed in the direction of a progressive awareness and discovery of plants as active and interactive subjects. If the overall goal is to open up to planetary consciousness, this tool seems effective in overcoming the phenomenon of plant blindness and disconnection from nature (Mancuso 2023, Jones 2020) and in finding in plants valuable allies to change perspective and begin a process of authentic awareness.

The 2030 Agenda, among its numerous objectives for the coming years, includes, within "goal 13," the commitment to combat climate change. In the section on targets and implementation tools, there is an expressed intention/need to "Enhance education, awareness, and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction, and early warning" (13.3). Within “goal 4” we find the necessity to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”, for example ensuring “that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development” (4.7) through education.

Universities are heavily involved in promoting pathways related to sustainability, both through their curricula and their organizational practices.

In this sense, it is considered that the field of study and research that contributes to the realisation of Goal 13 and Goal 4 of Agenda 2030 implies the role of universities in promoting and supporting, through diversified actions of didactic innovation, the development of environmental attention and awareness throughout the academic community (students, teachers, administrative staff).

So, the development of student-centred learning and the continuous improvement of teaching practices in the university teaching development (Anvur, 2023) - oriented to sustainability - is a pathway that needs to be invested in.

Within the Master's degree course at the University of Parma "Design and Coordination of Educational Services", and specifically in the courses "Design and Coordination of Educational Services" and "Principles and Methods for Environmental Education" students are called upon to explore (Guerra, 2019) the outdoor and "green" environments of university spaces. Students are called upon to explore (Guerra, 2019) the outdoor and 'green' environments of university spaces, establishing a relationship with them, observing and learning about them, rethinking and designing (Weyland, 2017) outdoor places of experience and learning for the university community and citizens.

The goal is to promote a look at understanding the possibilities for sustainability education for students and future coordinators in university settings and teaching - through an interdisciplinary perspective including pedagogical, ecological, sociological, architectural, biophilic aspects (Barbiero et al, 2021) -. The contribution will propose the theoretical framework of the training device, its implementation through the documentation realized, also by exploring the point of view of the students and teachers involved in the project, putting in evidence the impact of the project on sustainability.

The paper aims to analyse the apostolic exhortation Laudate Deum, published on 4 October 2023, in which Pope Francis returns to the concern for "the care of our common home" by drawing attention to the effects of climate change, which is causing a global crisis with a range of consequences that were probably not even imagined a century ago.

There is an urgent need to respond to this cry of alarm by going beyond a 'purely ecological approach' and considering it as a global social problem: everything is connected, because what happens in one part of the world affects the whole planet. It is also important to recognise that no one is saved alone (cf. 19) and that there can be no lasting change without cultural change, without the maturation of lifestyles and social beliefs, without the transformation of people (cf. 70).

It is a matter of overcoming the logic of appearing sensitive to the problem of climate change and having the courage to make substantial changes in human experience: if the measures we could take now have a cost, it will be all the greater the longer we wait (see 56).

In the face of this emergency, it is necessary to take responsibility for the legacy we leave behind when we pass through this world. It is a matter of social justice. Increasing environmental awareness requires a commitment to change personal, family and community habits that foster a different, sustainable lifestyle. Although the unaccountability of political sectors and the disinterest of the 'powerful' are there for all to see, efforts to pollute less, reduce waste, consume wisely, even if they do not immediately have a major effect, are creating a new culture.

The paper will focus on the hypotheses of ecological transition and coexistence emerging from many groups, networks and movements worldwide that have long been “envision the future” by reconsidering production, consumption, dwelling and living. They embody both theoretical visions and concrete communities of practice that indicate to a radical shift in direction to imagine, design and implement ecological and social transition. Through the construction of “sustainable and responsible communities”, intended as meso-level bodies with connect and overlap people and their communities, these actors represent concrete laboratories of ecological and democratic citizenship where individuals can learn and/or re-acquire knowledge necessary for well-being and living well (or good). They are informal groups of young and adult people who “learn together to transgress” to disobeying certain dogmas of capitalist accumulation. These groups, by placing human and living relationships back at the center, become forges of an elemental and basic politics that retracts sociality and the fundamental elements of citizenship: learning, thinking critically, participating, deciding, and acting. These collective experiences reclaim the dimension of knowledge and learning constructed with others, engaging in practices of self-education and peer-to-peer participation across generations. They circulate knowledge and expertise that are non-commodified and non-commodifiable because they are anchored to the subjects who produce this knowledge by exercising control over the tools employed. In these experiences, convivial tools are constructed, drawing inspiration from Ivan Illich’s thought. Mindfully borrowing from the contributions of feminist, ecological, pacifist and libertarian movements, in these school/labs, the knowledge created and freely circulated is inspired by starting from the oneself, valuing experience, politicizing the private sphere, practicing relationships, emphasizing the centrality of everyday practices, highlighting the importance of community building as a lever to make utopias and prefiguration politics more concrete, seeking new harmonies with the living, and eventually, embracing the enjoyment and taste of the present.

With the aim of including sustainability education into education programmes, the New European Sustainability Competence Framework, known as GreenComp (Bianchi et al., 2022), constitutes an essential reference for students and a valuable resource for teachers, providing a clear definition of the necessary skills and outlining a meaningful path to develop an in-depth understanding of the principles of sustainability.

The proposed contribution is based on qualitative research conducted as part of the three-year PON Green project (2022-2025), entitled "The ecological challenge: innovative educational practices".

The research examined the results gained by a sample of teachers involved in innovative training curricula proposed by FEM (Future Education Modena), an international center for innovation in the educational sector. These curricula focus on sustainability issues and are integrated into the School ReGeneration Plan.

The aim of the research was to investigate teachers' opinions regarding the green areas of competence and the possibility of integrating them into disciplinary paths (Cebrián & Junyent, 2015; Mulà et al., 2022; Marescotti, 2022). This contribution will highlight some results that emerged from the analysis of three focus groups and from the questionnaires administered before and after the training. In particular, we will focus on teachers' representations regarding sustainability education in the classroom, highlighting the importance of their role and the practices adopted, as well as the definition of their values related to sustainable development and climate, ecological and social justice (Ilardo & Salinaro, 2023; Rowan et al., 2020; Borgerding et al., 2023).

The analyzed data will provide interesting insights for the development of teacher training programs in sustainability education, carefully considering their interconnection with climate and social justice (Damiani, 2021; Corres et al., 2020). These programs aim to encourage the development of skills related to green issues (Birbes 2018; Ricciardi, 2021) supported by pedagogical principles that promote a democratic and inclusive school, thus contributing to the formation of global citizenship in the direction of real ecological justice (Lozano et al., 2017; Tarozzi & Mallon, 2019; Nigris & Zecca, 2023).